the bright idea

Stargate Universe: Season One

After what feels like only a few weeks, the first season of the Stargate franchise’s third series is over. It’s been quite the ride since October aboard the Destiny. I started posting weekly reviews of each episode after the midseason premiere, “Space,” so I figured I’d write this retrospective to pay some honors (and maybe a few dishonors) to the first half of the season. 

From the very first shots of “Air,” I knew that Universe was going to be a whole new kind of Stargate. I’m a media production student, so allow me to get oddly specific. The music was no longer orchestral. It was ambient and percussion based, slightly more like the score of Battlestar Galactica. The title font was a sans-serif (I know, my nerd is showing) and it was much less classic than the other two shows. The camerawork was handheld… and what the hell is a “kino” and why does it look so strange!? It hasn’t been for a while, but the premiere of Universe marked the very end of Kurt Russel’s Stargate. 

Here’s my lengthy, in-depth take on Season One as a whole. I debated breaking this into several posts, but ehhh, you guys can handle it. Put your thinking caps on and click “Read More.”

We’re All Growed Up: The Characters

I was unsure of what Universe had to offer at the end of the three-part season premiere. The crew was mostly focused on fixing some crucial systems on the ship and hadn’t really gotten to interact with one another yet. The sacrifice of Chloe’s father seemed a little gimmicky. My thought: “Did they really just kill him to add ‘complexity’ to Chloe’s character?” Yeah, so they did that. Over the course of the season, Chloe became a fairly well-rounded character, so I forgave them. I must say, TPTB made up for almost every shortcoming I saw with Universe by time we got to “Incursion.”

Who can forget the way we met Lt. Scott? Again, I thought: “Are they really making Stargate younger just by introducing a character in a raunchy sex scene?” Lt. Scott is almost nothing like what he was in “Air.” His moral compass got well readjusted and he’s much more than just a green airman. I’m a much bigger fan of Scott than I was in the beginning of the series, but I’m going to call that a flaw. What happened to Scott’s conflicted religious past? The fact that he has a son at home changed him for about 15 minutes of airtime before I (and probably a lot more of the audience) completely forgot about little Matthew. Back to a positive note, Matthew Scott is nothing like we’ve seen in other SG leaders. Granted, he’s not actually a “team leader,” but he usually does get command of offworld excursions. He’s not seasoned like O’Neill or Mitchell and he doesn’t have the sense of humor and bravado like the previous two and Col. Sheppard as well. My take: he’s a more balanced Anakin—he has weakness in his attachment to Chloe and struggles with taking orders vs. fighting his moral and ideological crusade.

Speaking of comparisons to O’Neill and Sheppard, there’s Col. Young. With every episode, I become a bigger fan of the colonel. I like that the franchise has taken a departure from the leader with humor and sarcasm. There’s really nothing funny about Young and the only thing he has in common with O’Neill and Sheppard is that his marriage is in shambles. Back in “Air,” he seemed like a stalwart and capable leader… but how much decision making did he really have to do on Icarus? Now that he’s in life, death, and more death situations regularly, he’s crumbled. He barely has control of his own temper, let alone the crew of Destiny. He becomes more and more real with every passing episode. The last shot of “Incursion, Pt 2” was perfect—Young staring up, hoping for a miracle, begging for forgiveness. He’s what we all would be in his situation.

The source of many of Young’s weaknesses are Camille and Dr. Rush. The two of them are always combatting Young’s decisions. I accept Rush much more than I did in the beginning of Universe, but I don’t know if I should. He used to be an obviously conniving bastard, but after a few fatal run-ins in the second half of the season, he seems to have straightened out his motives and actions… I think. His honest colors shone through in “Incursion” as he voiced is blunt feelings about the lives of less useful crew members. Camille, on the other hand, has shown to be the voice of those less useful souls. She’s not the standard IOA rep, but she’s close enough for her to feel familiar. Is she in this for the power? Does she even actually want control of Destiny… or would she rather just blame Young for all the problems? Her and Young don’t only balance each other in the “civilian vs. military” sense, but also in a personality sense. Where Young is personally weakened by the power he holds, Camille is empowered by her struggle for a say.

TJ, Eli, and Greer are interesting. I think of these three as Stargate 2.0 characters. We’ve seen them all before—TJ in Dr. Keller, Eli in McKay, and Greer in Lt. Ford. With McKay as an exception, I see each of these characters as more dynamic, successful executions of their original ‘selves.’ Keller was afraid of taking over the medical lead, but eventually grew into her role. TJ will never grow into the responsibility she’s been given. She’s just not trained to be an interstellar surgeon. McKay is brilliance with a doctorate. Eli is raw brilliance. He’s what every hobby nerd wishes he or she could be. Lt. Ford never revealed such a broken past as Greer, but I think the two of them serve a similar role on the team. They’re “yes-men,” never saying no to their commanding officer. Ford was a failed and flat character and Greer is a step forward. I have to admit, so far, I think Greer is the least successful character on the show. Enough with his broken home and short temper… does he have anything else to offer?

One of Universe’s other strengths is its ensemble. Stargate has always had minor recurring characters (Maybourne, Lorne, Bill Lee, Zelenka), but they’ve never been so much a part of the fabric of the show. Not many of SGU’s minor characters have gotten as big as… let’s say a Zelenka. Mr. Brody, Vanessa, and Dr. Park are in almost every episode, but only in the background. This ensemble experience has made the Destiny come alive unlike the city of Atlantis or Stargate Command. 

Toto, We’re Not in Kansas Anymore: The Places

SGU took a completely new perspective on gate travel. For the most part, leaving a planet is a one-way trip. Back in October, I was skeptical of what having no control of Destiny would mean for this new member of the Stargate franchise. The vastness and scale of the setting thanks to gate travel made the franchise what is was. The gate plays a minor role in Universe as opposed to its predecessors. That’s not to say that offworld adventures don’t augment the overall experience.

We’ve seen a lot in the two galaxies that Destiny has traversed so far. We’ve seen some pretty extreme locales like the sand planet in “Air” and the ice planet from “Water.” A fair amount of familiar landscapes, like those in “Faith” and “Lost” keep these strange galaxies grounded in the Stargate attitude toward other planets. The fact that we haven’t been able to control Destiny’s path (yet) frustrated me several times, especially in “Faith.” In “Faith,” there was evidence that the alien race that built the structure the team found on this certain planet actually terraformed the world. Who are these aliens? Are they friend or foe? Can we meet them? Where are they now? All of these questions get thrown away. We’ll never see that planet again. In one respect, this storytelling device crushes a lot of possible story arcs. The viewer can never get to know the terrain. We can never make offworld allies or bring on offworld teammates (sorry, Vala, Teal’c, Jonas, Teyla, and Ronan). This ‘handicap’ forces the writers to make the only consistent story element the characters themselves, which is the strength and purpose of Universe.

SGU doesn’t only explore the unknown reaches of vastly unexplored and exotic galaxies, though. Some great technology found way back in SG-1’s ninth season enabled some great interplay with the Milky Way: the communication stones. The constant communication with Earth was the weakness of the season 1.0. Once we got back the midseason hiatus, however, communication was at an all-time low, allowing the Destiny-centric and brief offworld stories to flourish. By time we got back to the Milky Way at the very end of the season, the stones were playing a whole new role. “Subversion” and “Incursion” were brilliant stories interweaving both galaxies and the franchise as a whole. Getting 3/4 of SG-1 involved wasn’t a crutch. It put the events onboard Destiny in perspective. Seeing familiar locations in the Milky Way and involving the Lucian Alliance was sheer brilliance. I’ve said it 100 times and I’ll say it 100 more: the possibilities for season two are endless.

Once Upon A Time: The Arcs

SGU is the most serialized story of the franchise. In the beginning, however, my biggest criticism was the lack of long-running story arcs. By about the fifth or sixth episode, most of the conflicts were resolved within the episode, leaving very little hanging over until the next week. It felt like TPTB were reverting back to the original Stargate format. All of this started to change once we passed the mid-season hiatus…

Slowly but surely story elements were left open, without answers. By time “Incursion” faded to black, we had a lot of open cans of worms on our hands: Are we going to see these aliens again? What really is Telford’s deal? Is TJ going to have the baby and how will Young react? Who will Chloe decide on? Will Camille try to take over again? The Lucian Alliance?! 

One of my favorite open story arcs is the disappearance of Franklin from the control chair. In one of my previous reviews, I had hoped that he ascended… I’m really wondering why there has been no mention of this event since it happened. A crew member disintegrated into thin air! …no one seems to care.

Another high point was the “Lost” arc where Eli, Chloe, and Scott got lost offworld for several episodes. It was just around the time in the season when I was complaining about nothing spanning several episodes. Perfect timing! The arc allowed the viewers to explore these foreign galaxies a little bit more and realize that it isn’t just empty space that Destiny is hurtling through. What was great about it was the fact that I was completely unsure of how it was going to end and even how I wanted it to. I’m finding myself feeling the same way with the recent Lucian Alliance arc. It can really go anywhere and I’m okay with just about any possibility. 

One underutilized arc, for me, was TJ’s pregnancy. Now, I’m unsure if she’ll survive into season two, but if she does, I’m hoping that this is explored a bit more… before (and if) the baby is born. Young’s marriage is still an open issue. It wasn’t a walk in the park before they got trapped aboard Destiny and I assume several million light years throw a wrench into any relationship. I understand that Young isn’t a very emotionally open person, but c’mon, show some feeling! How are you going to handle being in command with your son/daughter onboard? What about being your baby-mama’s commanding officer? I’m really chipped that there wasn’t an emotional breakdown between Young and TJ where these issues where discussed.

Conclusions

For those of you who have actually read this far, congratulations, and I’m sorry. This is obnoxiously long, but I had a lot to say. If any of you producing folk (yeah, I’m talking to you @marksavela) read this, good job. I’ve been a Stargate fan for years and a media student for one. SGU was good enough to keep me tuning in every week and keep me writing after every episode. The first season made me think enough to actually generate this much in response.

For the quality of season one, I give you a B+ (I’m sorry, I raved about the second half of the season, but the first half weighed you down).

For the possibility of what season two has to offer, I give you one hell of a solid A. You have me looking forward to the future evolution of the franchise, not wishing to go back to what it was just a few months ago.